@Carolle, thank you so much for your wonderful comment and the compliment. You made my day!

You definitely have a very unique skill set – I hope your previous employer appreciated you. :) Thanks so much for the GREAT bio-writing tip. Adding some personality to the bios always makes them more interesting to read.

I’d be addicted to cupcakes and Netflix reruns…

:)

@Paul – good question. You can try combining the two approaches and see how that works. Right now, I’m writing a “straight” about us page, and I’m also including benefits and a soft-sell call to action.

Good luck with the rewrite and let me know how it goes! :)

Really who doesn’t have this problem. The only people that I know who can spiel off a professional, relevant biography are those who have been forced to develop this skill for work. Those who must present bios for RFPs and speaking engagement biographies. Most of these people are consultants or regular circuit speakers who are required to do this type of self-aggradization again and again. Its not easy!

I gained a bit of a reputation with a previous employer for writing bios for websites and introductions, CVs, and LinkedIn pages. It is so much easier to speak of someone else in a positive and professional manner. So at that workplace, it worked to have your professional profile written by some other informed insider. So here is a suggestion for your readers who might be stymied by this agonizing job – try writing bios for other colleagues at your office or workplace. If you are lucky enough to work in a creative industry you might try writing short, humorous bios even as an exercise, for example, “Joe P. – Our lead developer, addicted to Cool Ranch Doritos, and reigning table tennis champ at the office”. You will probably get a sobering and flattering perspective that you do not have complete access to when you attempt the task yourself.

And in the interest of complete disclosure, my professional bio and LinkedIn page remain completely underdeveloped and amateurish. Maybe it is time for me to take up the challenge personally.

Thanks for all of the great insights Heather. There are a handful of bloggers I follow religiously, you are always at the top of my reading list.

Thanks, @Geraldine, for the heads up. I’ve forwarded your note to my designer. :)

Thanks for your explanation Heather. The guest post/speaker angle isn’t relevant for me (at the moment – never say never!) but I can see how it would be for you.

(Minor technical issue you might not be aware of/able to fix: after pressing Reply to your comment I had to fill out my details again, which might put people off from continuing a conversation).

@Jody – thanks for your great comment! How long did you struggle with your about page?

@Geraldine, good question. There were a couple main factors that went into my decision. The first factor was because it was easier – for whatever reason, it’s easier for me to write, “Heather Lloyd-Martin was profiled in a book,” than, “I was profiled…” I tried first person and it ended up reading like I, I, I, I, I. :)

The second reason is because people tend to pull my bio for guest posts, speaker introductions, etc. Third-person is a better format for those kind of things. Having said that, I’ve seen some folks create a first and a third person bio. One is targeted more towards their readership and the other is for speaker/guest post bios. I may do that in the future. For now, I was just happy to finish the darn page!

Thanks!
:)

LOL, no @Dan, you’re certainly not the only one! :)

Thank YOU for the comment!